Bob Lang says he spent $26 million to build Erin Hills, but has little left

DELAFIELD, Wis.—Fifteen miles south of Erin Hills, where the U.S. Open begins on Thursday, Bob Lang sits in an office surrounded by mementos from the golf course he built. There are early design drawings, the original clubhouse cornerstone, a framed photo on one wall and, on a recent morning, two enlarged landscape photos spread across the wooden floor.

They are remnants of one the most improbable tales in golf history: How a...